Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Happy Place by Emily Henry

18 reviews

elledanie's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Well, that was terrible imo. I was going to give it at least 2 stars until she
Spoilergave up her dream job for a man
🙄 
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carleesi's review

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3.0

An enjoyable journey through Harry and Wyn’s history.

Spoilercan’t really get over just how fucked Sabrina’s behaviour is. So manipulative and gross and there’s no arc for her learning to be better or having any redemption beyond “we’re family so we forgive each other”. Super unhealthy.
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jo_22's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was a bit slow-going for me at first (relative to other Emily Henry books) in how it took me farther into the story to really connect with the characters. They were enjoyable characters but frustrating at times when they didn’t communicate; and I think the  I wasn’t as engaged in the plot til probs 50% of the way through. Listened to it on a 9 hour solo drive and despite my early frustrations, it was the perfect book to immerse in!
And the last 20%…oof <3 had great (albeit very rushed) character development, and relatable POVs/elements. (Career, life, love, boundaries, happiness, generational trauma, friendship, how to argue, secure attachment, growing up & adulting). 

It was slightly triggering for me at some points which is reason for 4.25 stars instead of 5 stars. 

Overall feelings are: 
• omg this was enjoyable 
• I want to talk to others about this book
• thanks han for pushing me to read it and putting me on EH
• the timeliness of me reading this is wild
• Harriet was frustrating in how she didn’t communicate or made assumptions / didn’t do relationships well. However I could relate at times so it didn’t bother me as much as other novels with this trope. 
• I didn’t like Wyn in ways I liked other EH male romantic interests 
• I like how much this focused on healthy relationships & friendships in particular way more than her other novels - it added a new dynamic & I enjoyed that variety. The characters didn’t often portray healthy relationships but I liked how EH explored that
• I NEED to own the paperback so I can reread and highlight impactful parts / quotes (There were so many moments where I paused the book  to process or hype or reflect on)
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themagpiereads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Emily Henry does it again. This soared to the top of my list of favorites!
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leandrathetbrzero's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

 My first 1 star of the year…

Harriet and Wyn were the perfect couple until Wyn ended their engagement over an excruciating 4-minute phone call. Fast forward six months, and the two find themselves on their annual friends vacation…pretending to still be engaged. During the longest week of her life, Harriet must address her own people-pleasing tendencies, how she feels about Wyn’s proximity, and why their love didn’t last.

Wow, did I hate this book. It had every unhealthy relationship, from romantic to platonic. My biggest problems with Happy Place centered around the actions of Wyn and Sabrina, especially how they abused Harriet’s need to people-please and her tendency to blame herself. Both characters knew she grew up in a home with a loveless marriage, and that she struggles to set boundaries and speak up for what she wants, so I was shocked by how often her ex-fiance and (supposedly) best friend manipulated her and violated her trust. 

SPOILERS
Spoiler After being the one who broke up with her, Wyn constantly crossed the line telling her how much he misses touching her and being near her. Meanwhile, he continues to withhold his true thoughts and feelings from her until their friendcation is nearly over…he clearly hasn’t grown enough in their five months apart. They were just an unhealthy couple with co-dependency issues and a higher physical relationship than an emotional one. Sabrina did a genuinely horrible thing, placing the two in the master suite when she KNEW they were no longer together. She knowingly caused Harriet emotional trauma, AND when all comes out, she has the nerve to blame Harriet for her breakup with Wyn.

The only way this narrative could have been redeemed is if Harriet left everyone behind (besides Cleo and Kimmy, they were cool) and prioritized herself and her happiness. But alas, that did not happen, and this ended up being such a depressing book. #JusticeForHarriet

For those interested, I have a full review posted on my booktube: Leandra the TBR Zero. If you adored this book, then I recommend you take inventory and decide whether or not it is a good idea to watch!

 Booktube Review: https://youtu.be/RrXYUYSNfAI
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annag77's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

2.75

I’ve heard so much about Henry’s books and had to read one for myself for For the most part, the story was cohesive and flowed. It did, however, take me a moment to figure out when Harry was having a flashback as opposed to staying on the main timeline. I guess my main issue was with connecting with characters themselves and buying into their whole group dynamic. I can see why loads of people love Happy Place though! 
 
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ittywitty's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This story dragged for me and I almost wanted to DNF. I expected a love story but it was more about the perils of hanging on to nostalgia in toxic, unhealthy friendships, and enabling privileged, miserable people who are incapable of speaking hard truths or having good boundaries with the people in their lives. The “will they, won’t they?” storyline dried up my interest for the most part….I clocked it at p268 when the storyline FINALLY progressed and we actually got passed all the lead up. At that point I just really wanted it to be over. 

This is the first book in a while that I wanted to hurry up and finish because I failed to get emotionally invested in the characters. Maybe it’s because I’ve recently read a lot of Abby Jimenez books where you could get the two different perspectives of the people involved (I really wished I could’ve understood Wyn’s perspective the whole time), but I prefer those kind of romance books. Also the name choices and nicknames were too much to follow (Har, Harry, Harriet) & background characters were annoying too. Sadly would not recommend.
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lucyrudd's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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griet's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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3.5

 Finished reading: June 18th 2023


"Love means constantly saying you're sorry, and then doing better."

There has been such a hype around Happy Place, and I honestly can't believe it has already got over 200.000! ratings on Goodreads. I mean, Happy Place has only been published for two months or so... Anyhow, I can't deny that I've been looking forward to read this one, because I really enjoyed my time with her previous books. I loved the sound of the blurb with the group of friends getting together and the Main cottage setting, and I had high hopes for it. Now that I've read it, I'm not sure if those expectations were actually met though... I'm not saying that it's a bad read and I initially did love my time with this story. There was something about this close group of friends that made me want to spend time with them. The main focus is on Wyn and Harriet of course, and they have the biggest character growth as a result, but I feel that the rest of them are still quite complex as well. I wish more time would have been spent in the present though, because the many flashbacks could get a bit tedious. The miscommunication trope ended up being a bit too much for me as well, because it was just too present not only in Wyn and Harriet, but in the group in general. It distracted from the other issues and only started to make me feel frustrated by the whole situation. Especially when it was not clear why they broke up in the first place and is was way too obvious they still love each other. That said, it was the last 20% or so of Happy Place that really let me down. Not only did I find this particular outcome to be highly unbelievable, but not satisfying at all either. I just couldn't believe that Harriet would make such a big decision on the fly, after only a week in Maine and without considering all her options. A slower build up would have made her decision a bit more credible, but still... This was NOT how I hoped this story would end. I can't deny that there were parts of the story that I loved, but Happy Place also ended up having more issues for me than expected. 
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